Praying for Post-Abortive Women, and Men

I want to bring this comment by Lee Anne up from the combox of my Silent No More post:

I am a Silent No More speaker - I speak out for my son, Matthew Dean.

I was unable to come to Washington D.C. this year, but I stood with my sign at the capitol in Olympia, Washington. Many protestors with bullhorns, drums, whistles - very sad, indeed. We did not speak there, but we were a silent witness, four of us among 5,000 or so, and statistics would show that we were not the only ones who were post abortive. The protestors were about forty in number.

I spoke at Sacred Heart in Lacey, Washington last night. It was an easy group - they were a pro-life group.

I am humbled by your opinion that we are brave - yes, it is hard to speak out publicly about something so difficult in my life, but I am forever grateful to the Loving, Merciful and Graceful God that I serve.

He has set me free from my horror.

Yes, there are many on the pro-life side who are sickened by us - they would rather we stayed silent, too. However, we cannot and will not.

I encourage those who encounter pro-abortion people to meet them as Christ meets each one of us -for, most of the pro-abortion people are acting out of fear and shame. They, too many of them, are hurting as a result of liberal upbringing and from abortions. They do not know how to heal - and if we on the pro-life side are cruel, judgemental or mean to them, they will take that much longer to come to know our Savior, Jesus Christ.

So, today, as a mother of an aborted son, I urge each and every one of you readers to 1) pray for a pro-abortion person 2) to befriend one and bring Christ to him or her.

Thank you on behalf of Matthew Dean and myself.

One of my very best friends (pictured above) had an abortion when she was a young woman. She tells her story HERE. (I can't get this to link right to the article. To read it, type "New Dawn" in the search box. It's the June 2004 issue. If any web experts can figure out how to link directly to the article, please let me know!)

So many of us remember to pray for the unborn. We even remember to pray for women considering abortion. But how many of us pray fervantly for post-abortive women? I know I don't do it enough. And then there are the men. I had a friend once who talked his college girlfriend into an abortion. Years later, he experienced a conversion and deeply regretted his actions. He took it to the confessional, and worked to make amends in many different ways, but the hole left by that missing child never goes away.

Let's all work on praying for these men and women together, beginning today, right now.

If you've had an abortion and would like help, start here: Rachel's Vineyard. The After Abortion Blog also links to places offering help - check their sidebar.